Chapter 477

“Oh, come on, Luc,” I say, laughing a little, delighted at the shock on his face. “Of my three mates, you were never the one who I thought needed the ‘where do babies come from’ chat –“

“Who the hell was he sleeping with!?” Luca whispers, shocked, still staring up at Jackson and his little girl in the window. Luca runs a mystified hand through his hair. “He’s such – he’s so awkward – how did he get a girl -”

“He’s also insanely hot,” I point out, raising my brows at him. “I don’t think it’s very hard for him.”

Luca scowls a little, snapping his eyes back to mine. “He’s not that good looking.”

I just lift a hand to tap at the magazines still pressed to my chest. “The people are with me on this one, Luca. Jackson’s a babe.”

Luca ignores this very valid point. “Is that – is that like his biological kid!? Or did he just like, snag one off the street –“

“Please, he’s not my mom,” I say, rolling my eyes. “She’s his! That’s his daughter, Marigold. She’s great!”

Luca’s eyes flash back to me. “She’s great!?”

I raise an eyebrow at him, challenging him to try that again.

“I mean, I’m sure…she’s a great kid,” Luca says, shaking his head as if to clear it. “But Ariel, you can’t tell me that you’re actually happy about this –“

“Why not!?” I scoff, kind of appalled at his reaction.

“Because – because – that’s someone else’s kid, Ariel!” he says, taking a step closer, shaking his head at me like I’m a little crazy. “Now Jackson’s what, a dad? And you have to change your whole life to accommodate that!?”

“He’s my mate, Luca,” I say, my voice deepening as I start to get mad. “What did you expect I’d do, just kick him out the door at the first big challenge? I love him, of course I’m going to welcome his daughter into my family!”

“You deserve better,” Luca snaps, shaking his head and crossing his arms, standing up to his full height. “You shouldn’t have to raise someone else’s kid just because Jackson made some kind of youthful mistake.”

“The only mistake here, Luca,” I say, quite low, my magic beginning to simmer in my heart. “Is you thinking that it won’t be the honor of my life to raise Marigold at Jackson’s side.”

“Ariel,” Luca says, leaning closer and reaching for me with both hands. My glare stops him before he touches me and his arms fall to his sides. Still, he persists, holding my gaze steadily. “I’m serious – you deserve your own family without these complications!” He shakes his head, pressing a hand to his chest. “Come with me – you want kids? Let’s have kids! But they’ll be our kids – kids produced from a goddess-blessed bond – we’ll be so happy –“

“Or,” I say, tilting my head to the side, ironic. “If I want goddess-blessed kids, why don’t I just go back to Atalaxia and take Gabriel up on the same offer? Be his Queen and have a whole bunch of Princes and Princesses with pretty black hair and blue eyes!”

Luca scowls as he stands straight, as he realizes that his offer to me is not as unique or shining as he thought it was.

“If you think the problem here is that I don’t understand my options, Luca,” I say, stepping towards him and tilting my chin up as I hold his gaze. “Then you’re very mistaken. I choose Jackson. I choose that little girl.”

I point solidly up to the window, where I can feel Jackson still standing, steady and…well, not precisely patient. But enduring.

“They’re mine,” I say, firm. Possessive. Right.

Luca just sighs, hanging his head for a long, long moment.

I let Luca take the time and space to think, dropping my hand. As I do my anger floods from me and my wolf presses herself warm against my heart. Because it’s hard – all of this is hard. Luca is right – it is a surprise and a challenge to have Marigold show up on my door.

But his suggestion that I should walk away from her, that there’s a child that I might want more?

God, it just solidifies for me, in my heart, precisely how much I really want her.

“Where does this leave us?” Luca whispers, raising a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers like he does when he has a headache.

And my heart goes out to him too because…well, he broke our bond. And I came out of it whole and strong. And he…

He has much less, doesn’t he?

“It leaves us as friends, Luca,” I say quietly, meaning it very much. He lifts his eyes to me with a sigh. “We…start over from there. See where it goes.” I smirk a bit. “I still own half your gym, after all.”

He huffs a laugh, looking to the side. “I know. My uncle is pissed.”

“Your uncle is a dick,” I say, dry. Luca laughs harder at this, turning that gorgeous smile on me. And, as usual, my stomach flips a bit at the sight. “Are you coming back to school?”

He shrugs, clearly implying that he’s unsure.

“Think about it,” I say on a long exhale. “And…we’ll go from here. But I’m sorry, Luca. And I forgive you and I care about you a great deal. I’m…very happy that you came today.”

“Yeah,” he says on a sigh, slipping his hands into his pockets, regret taking his features as I take a step away. “I’m glad too.”

“I’ll see you soon?”

He shrugs, tacitly agreeing to it but unhappy that this apparently didn’t go as planned. “I love you, Ariel.”

I give him my best smile – a true one, not a Princess Ariel smile. “I love you too, Luca. Just…in a different way, now.”

He sighs as I turn away, clutching the magazine to my chest and hurrying into the palace. As soon as I get inside I turn my mind away from Luca, knowing I’ve got more important things to deal with right now. I rush up the stairs, eager as hell to find my mate and fill him in, to assure him that everything is fine.

When I hurry into the living room my eyes quickly sweep around, taking in Rafe, Mark, and Ben sitting around the coffee table with Jesse, a sleeping Seraphina sprawled chaotically over his lap. My cousin grins at me as I immediately stride across the room, heading for the hall and my room beyond.

“Hey, cuz,” Jesse says, grinning wickedly at me. “What have you been up to?”

“Try me not, fiend!” I call to him over my shoulder, lifting a hand and letting a bit of my blue fire burn there. “I’ve gotta go find my mate!”

“Hey, what was that magazine?” Rafe calls after me, cheerful and entertained. “Seriously, who’s the mystery hunk!? Is it me!?”

I ignore them all, darting down the hall and working to steady my breath as I push open the door to my room. My eyes move immediately to the big Alpha sitting on the edge of the teeny tiny bed in the corner of the room, stroking his hand over the hair of the little girl who struggles to keep her eyes open.

“Hi,” I whisper, instantly becoming softer as I realize that Jackson wasn’t avoiding me – it’s just that Marigold, like Seraphina, is exhausted and needed to go to bed. Relief flies through me as I push the door shut behind me and cross to them, only wondering for half a second how a kid bed got in here when neither of us were here all day.

Because mom did it. Of course she did. My wonderful, sweet, thoughtful mom.

“Hey,” Jackson says, reaching for me, pulling me close and letting out a possessive little growl as he does. I grin at that, liking it very much that he perhaps wasn’t completely immune to the sight of me speaking with Luca.

I slip onto my mate’s lap, running a hand through his hair and pressing a kiss to his cheek, taking a moment to let my eyes move over his face. But he sends a calming pulse down the bond, letting me know that it’s all okay. I smile at him, loving him a great deal and letting him feel it. I kiss him again, on the mouth this time, and then turn my attention to the sleepy little girl.

“Hey, Goldie,” I whisper, moving from Jackson’s lap to the bed next to her, laying my body horizontal and propping myself up on my elbow, laying the magazine face-down next to me. “Did you have a busy day?”

“Yes,” she whispers, happy and sleepy, looking up at me. “Ariel.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” I whisper, laughing a bit, reaching out to pet her little dark head. “You feeling sleepy?”

She nods, taking a deep breath. “Can Fifi come tomorrow?”

I laugh lightly, delighted at their growing friendship. I glance at Jacks, who shrugs, letting me know he has no idea what the plans are. “We’ll see. Hey, I brought you an amazing story book,” I say, grinning wickedly, turning the tabloid over and handing it to her.

Jackson leans forward, confused and curious.